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Batman Vol 1 237
On Halloween, the annual Vermont parade is taking place and Dick Grayson has decided to attend with some of his college friends. While in the parade, Dick and his friends notice some crooks attacking a man dressed as Robin and they try to help the young man without success. When the crooks have dispersed, Dick decides to follow them as Robin and he follows their trail to a barren space where he finds a the corpse of a man ig a Batman costume. At that moment, Robin is attacked by the dark figure of the Reaper and he is forced to flee until he falls down to a nearby river and remains unconscious. Batman, who has been tracking an ex-Nazi war criminal to the annual Halloween parade, finds Robin and takes him to the house of Tom Fagan, the organizer of the Vermont parade. In Fagan's place, Robin is checked by Batman's friend, Doctor Benjamin Gruener, a German survivor of the Nazi holocaust. Meanwhile, Dick's friends are looking for him when they come across the Reaper again and when Batman lears of this second attack, he starts investigating the case more closely. However, his clues lead him to find the Nazis and stop them for good, despite the fact that he couldn't prevent one last man from being killed by them. Afterwards, Robin believes that the case is solved, but Batman reminds him that the Reaper is still on the loose and Batman starts looking for the killer by himself. When they finally meet, Batman has deduced the Reaper's identity as Dr. Gruener, who sought revenge against the Nazis he hated. Unfortunately, Gruener has lost himself in his Reaper's personality and he attacks Batman before fleeing the scene. The Reaper tries to make his escape through a nearby dam, but he is stopped by the presence of Dick Grayson's friends. When Reaper gets ready to strike and kill the youngsters, he sees his Star of David amulet and he becomes horrified with his actions. Unaware that he was walking on the edge of the dam, Gruener stumbles with his robe and falls downwards to his ultimate death and Batman is unable to save the man. | StoryTitle2 = The Screaming House | Synopsis2 = | Appearing1 = Featured Characters: * * Antagonists: * ** Hans Other Characters: * * * Col. Kurt Schloss * Alan and two other friends of Dick Grayson (based on Alan Weiss, Gerry Conway and Bernie Wrightson) Locations: * * ** | Appearing2 = | Notes = * "Night of the Reaper" was reprinted in the . * Story based on ideas by Bernie Wrightson and Harlan Ellison, per Denny O'Neil's recounting in the letters section. | Trivia = * People at the Rutland Halloween Parade are dressed as Batman, Batgirl, Man-Bat, , Hawkman, Captain Marvel (Billy Batson), Superman, Aquaman, Solomon Grundy, Robin, Cain & Abel from DC Comics and Spider-Man, Thor, Invisible Woman, Dr. Doom, Captain America, Havok & Quicksilver from Marvel Comics; another resembles James Gordon and two figures in shadow could be the Phantom Stranger and Green Lantern (Alan Scott) | Recommended = | Links = }}